Licence to Kill
Licence to Kill, released in 1989, is the sixteenth entry in the James Bond film series by Eon Productions, and the first one not to use the title of an Ian Fleming story. It is the fifth and final consecutive Bond film to be directed by John Glen. It also marks Timothy Dalton's second and final performance in the role of James Bond. The story has elements of two Ian Fleming short stories and a novel, interwoven with aspects from Japanese Rōnin tales. The film sees Bond being suspended from MI6 as he pursues drugs lord Franz Sanchez, who has ordered an attack against his CIA friend Felix Leiter and a rape and murder on Felix's wife during their honeymoon. Originally titled Licence Revoked in line with the plot, the name was changed during post-production because too many people did not know what revoked meant. Budgetary reasons caused Licence to Kill to be the first Bond film shot completely outside the United Kingdom, with locations in both Florida and Mexico. The film earned over $156 million worldwide, and enjoyed a generally positive critical reception, with ample praise for the stunts, but attracted some criticism of Dalton's dark and violent interpretation of Bond and the fact that the film was significantly darker and more violent than its predecessors. After the release of Licence to Kill, legal wrangling over control of the series and the James Bond character resulted in a six-year-long delay in production of the next Bond film which resulted in Dalton deciding not to return. It is also the final Bond film for actors Robert Brown (as M) and Caroline Bliss (as Moneypenny), screenwriter Richard Maibaum, title designer Maurice Binder, editor John Grover, cinematographer Alec Mills, director and former Bond film editor John Glen, and producer Albert R. Broccoli, although he would later act as a consulting producer for GoldenEye before his death. Plot DEA agents collect James Bond—MI6 agent 007—and his friend, now DEA agent Felix Leiter, on their way to Leiter's wedding in Key West, to have them assist in capturing drugs lord Franz Sanchez. Bond and Leiter capture Sanchez by attaching a hook and cord to Sanchez's plane in flight near The Bahamas and pulling it out of the air with a Coast Guard helicopter. Afterwards, Bond and Leiter parachute down to the church in time for the ceremony. Sanchez bribes DEA agent Ed Killifer and escapes. Meanwhile, Sanchez's henchman Dario and his crew ambush Leiter and his wife Della and take Leiter to an aquarium owned by one of Sanchez's accomplices, Milton Krest. Sanchez has Leiter lowered into a tank holding a great white where he is maimed by the shark. When Bond learns Sanchez has escaped, he returns to Leiter's house to find him barely alive and that Della has been murdered—and by implication raped.12 As the DEA refuses to help because Sanchez is out of its jurisdiction, Bond, with Leiter's friend Sharkey, start their own investigation into what happened to their friend. The pair discover a marine research centre run by Milton Krest, one of Sanchez's henchmen, where Sanchez has hidden cocaine and a submarine for smuggling. After Bond kills Killifer by pushing him into the tank at the centre with the shark that maimed Leiter, M meets Bond in Key West's Hemingway House and orders him to an assignment in Istanbul, Turkey. Bond resigns after turning down the assignment, but M suspends Bond instead and immediately revokes his licence to kill. Bond flees from MI6 custody and becomes a rogue agent, bereft of official backing, although he later receives unauthorised assistance from MI6 armourer Q. Bond boards the Wavekrest—a ship run by Milton Krest—and foils Sanchez's latest drug shipment, stealing five million dollars in the process, but discovers that Sharkey had been killed by Sanchez's henchmen. Bond recruits Pam Bouvier, an ex-CIA agent and pilot whom he rescues from Dario at a Bimini bar,3 and journeys with her to the Republic of Isthmus. In Isthmus City, Bond is met by Q. He finds his way into Sanchez's employment by posing as an assassin looking for work. Two Hong Kong Narcotics Bureau officers foil Bond's attempt to assassinate Sanchez and take him to an abandoned warehouse. They are joined by Fallon, an MI6 agent who was sent by M to apprehend Bond, dead or alive. Bond is about to be sedated via injection and sent back to London in disgrace when Sanchez's men rescue him and kill the officers, believing them to be the assassins. Later, with the aid of Bouvier, Q, and Sanchez's girlfriend Lupe Lamora, Bond frames Krest by placing the $5 million he had stolen into the hyperbaric chamber on board the Wavekrest. An infuriated Sanchez then traps Krest in the chamber and decompresses the pressurised chamber with an axe, explosively killing him. Meanwhile, Sanchez admits Bond into his inner circle. Sanchez takes Bond to his base, which is disguised as a meditation retreat. Bond learns that Sanchez's scientists can dissolve cocaine in petrol and then sell it disguised as fuel to Asian drug dealers. The buying and selling are conducted via the televangelist Professor Joe Butcher, working under orders from Sanchez's business manager Truman-Lodge. The re-integration process will be available to those underworld clients who can pay Sanchez's price. During Sanchez's presentation to potential Asian customers, Dario discovers Bond and betrays him to Sanchez. Bond starts a fire in the laboratory and attempts to flee, but is captured again and placed on the conveyor belt that drops the brick-cocaine into a giant shredder. Bouvier arrives and shoots Dario, allowing Bond to pull Dario into the shredder, killing him. Sanchez flees as fire consumes his base, taking with him four articulated tankers full of the cocaine and petrol mixture. Bond pursues them by plane, with Bouvier at the controls. During the course of a stunt-filled chase through the desert, three of the four tankers are destroyed and Bond kills many of Sanchez's men. Sanchez attacks Bond with a machete aboard the final remaining tanker, which loses control and crashes down a hill side. Soaked in petrol from the leaking tanker, Sanchez attempts to kill Bond with his machete. Bond then reveals his cigarette lighter – the Leiters' gift for being the best man at their wedding – and sets Sanchez on fire. Sanchez stumbles into the wrecked tanker, blowing it up and killing himself. Bouvier, driving the tractor from one of the destroyed tankers, arrives and rescues Bond. Later, a party is held at Sanchez's former residence. Bond receives a call from Leiter telling him that M is offering him his job back. He then rejects Lupe's advances and romances Bouvier instead. Cast *Timothy Dalton as James Bond, an MI6 agent who resigns to take his revenge on drug lord Franz Sanchez *Carey Lowell as Pam Bouvier, an ex-Army pilot and CIA informant *Robert Davi as Franz Sanchez, the most powerful drug lord in Latin America, mentioned as having been wanted by the DEA for years. *Talisa Soto as Lupe Lamora, Sanchez's girlfriend who has romantic feelings for Bond *Anthony Zerbe as Milton Krest, Sanchez's henchman who operates Wavekrest Marine Research, and whom Bond sets up in order to turn Sanchez against him *Frank McRae as Sharkey, a friend of Felix Leiter who owns a boat charter business *Everett McGill as Ed Killifer, a corrupt DEA official who frees Sanchez from custody *Wayne Newton as Professor Joe Butcher, Sanchez's middleman and TV evangelist for Olimpatec Meditation Institute *Benicio del Toro as Dario, Sanchez's personal henchman *Anthony Starke as Truman-Lodge, Sanchez's financial advisor *Pedro Armendáriz, Jr. as President Hector Lopez, the president of Isthmus *Desmond Llewelyn as Q, Bond's ally who supplies Bond with various gadgets and helps him on the field *David Hedison as Felix Leiter, a former CIA agent now with DEA and a close friend of James Bond *Priscilla Barnes as Della Churchill, Felix Leiter's bride *Robert Brown as M, the head of MI6 *Caroline Bliss as Miss Moneypenny, M's personal secretary *Don Stroud as Colonel Heller, Sanchez's head of security *Grand L. Bush as Hawkins, a DEA Agent who opposes Bond's vendetta *Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa as Kwang, a Hong Kong Police Narcotics agent sent to infiltrate Sanchez's heart of operations *Christopher Neame as Fallon, an MI6 agent sent by M to arrest Bond, dead or alive *Diana Lee Hsu as Loti, a female Hong Kong Narcotics agent working with Kwang External links * Category:Films Category:1989 release Category:James Bond series Category:Timothy Dalton films Category:Action Films Category:Rated PG-13 films